New Delhi: The Indian Defence Ministry informed on Friday that an unarmed supersonic missile, which took off from Sirisa, accidentally fell 124 km into Pakistan territory on Wednesday evening. The ministry expressed its regrets for the mistake and explained that it was a technical malfunction, IANS reported.
In a statement, the ministry said, "On March 9, 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The government has taken the incident seriously and has ordered a high-level probe into the matter. It is a matter of relief that no life loss has happened due to the accident, it said.
Earlier on Friday, India's charge d'affaires was summoned by the Pakistan administration and has informed their protest on the unprovoked breach of their airspace. Pakistan foreign office released a statement warning New Delhi of "unpleasant consequences". The neighbour called for no further such incidents in the future.
On Thursday, Pakistan mentioned the missile and claimed that it was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet, posing a danger to passenger flights in both Indian and Pakistani airspace, as well as civilian properties on the ground. Director-General of the Pakistani Armed Forces Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Babar Iftikhar, said, "A high-speed flying object was picked up inside Indian flying territory by Air Defence Operations Centre of the Pakistani Air Force. From its initial course, the object suddenly manoeuvred towards Pakistani territory and violated Pakistan's airspace, ultimately falling near Mia Channu."
He said that there were no human casualties or injuries but some civilian property damage. Pakistan defence initiated required tactical procedures on the incident, he said. The missile was cruising inside Pak territory for 3 minutes and 4 seconds. Its speed axis was Mach 2.5 and ultimately Mach 3. "Whatever caused this incident to happen, it is for the Indians to explain," he added.